Hamilton couldn't sleep after Spa

Lewis Hamilton says he struggled to sleep in the aftermath of the Belgian Grand Prix after falling 29 points behind Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in the title fight.

Rosberg recovered from the collision to finish second, while Hamilton eventually retired, meaning he claimed 18 points on his nearest rival to extend his lead. Hamilton says the scale of the task in front of him became obvious that night but he vows he will come back stronger.

"I struggled with sleep a bit on Sunday night after the race, just thinking about what had happened, realising I had gone at least a win on points behind Nico for the third time this season," Hamilton said in his BBC column. "Formula 1 is my job, but it's not just a job. It's my life, my passion. This is what I was born to do. Those weekends are not that easy to come back from.

"But over all the difficult times I've had, I really feel like I have created a thick skin and an ability to at least recover from those situations a bit faster."

Despite the daunting task ahead of him Hamilton says nothing about his attitude to racing has changed.

"I am hired to race hard for the team, to win races, wear the silver star proudly and really shine a light on Mercedes. And that's what I'm going to do. Out of the hundreds of manoeuvres you do every year, you can't get every one right, not when you're travelling at the speeds we're doing.

"But I intend to make as few mistakes as possible and I'm going to race as hard as I always have. I race with my heart. That's what I have done all my life, and what has got me to where I am. I'm hungry for it. I want to win and that's never going to change."